Crime Rate in Central, ward

Central has the highest crime rate of 20 wards in Luton district and the 49th highest crime rate ward of 7,548 wards in England and Wales. Across the region (East of England), it has the 2nd highest crime rate of 947 wards.

The overall crime rate in Central in the last 12 months was 394.1 per 1,000 residents and was 292.5% higher than the Luton district average (100.4 per 1,000 residents). In the last 12 months, Central’s most reported crimes were Violence and sexual offences with 1,363 offences recorded. The least common crime was Bicycle theft with 52 cases , unchanged from 2024. The fastest-growing crime category was Robbery ( 21.6% YoY). The sharpest decline was Theft from the person ( -30.3% YoY).

Violent crimes totalled 1,957 (≈ 153.6 per 1,000 residents). Year-over-year these were falling ( -9.0% ). Over the last decade, overall crime has falling ( -38.7% comparing early vs recent averages) .

In the Central ward, the main local crime hotspot is near Shopping Area. Police recorded 698 crimes here, including 198 violent or public-order offences. All of these hotspots lie within roughly 0.3 miles.